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Marijuana Tour Operator Goes Public Via Reverse Merger

A failed developer of "online chat systems" has acquired several businesses, including a marijuana tour operator, amid the flurry of share issuance and dearth of profits that often characterizes marijuana-focused transactions.

Yep, that's the new business plan for Pladeo Corp (PLAD), which just acquired a string of marijuana entertainment businesses, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Incorporated in Nevada 2012 "for the purpose of developing online chat systems free of charge," Pladeo, which doesn't have any profits, has issued at least 2.5 million shares in order to buy four marijuana entertainment businesses known collectively as Mary Jane Group. These include Mary Jane Tours, Mile High Times, Dab City Radio and Mary Jane Entertainment.

As part of its description of the various businesses, the filing states

Mary Jane Entertainment is conveniently located off a major highway. Our radio program reaches thousands of listeners and Mile High Times is distributed to marijuana-related businesses. This keeps our brand in the forefront through multiple channels of distribution.

Do you consider yourself a connoisseur of high-grade cannabis? Whether you're a pro-smoker with Michael Phelps' lung capacity or just a good ol' fashioned stoner, the Up In Smoke Tour is just the right fit for you!

At $109 per person or $199 for couples, this is the cheapest option. Pricier tours include the Chronic Art Tour, "a night of creativity, community and Cannabis," where you get to create art alongside Vincent Gordon whose "work is wildly imaginative and pulls from a comic sense of ridiculousness, irony and social commentary." Only $249!

The impact of this transaction on shares of Pladeo is a bit difficult to gauge, since the company's stock has never traded, according to Friday's filing, even though Pladeo received its ticker symbol, "PLAD" on the OTCQB market on April 12 2013. The idea, though, is that the Mary Jane Group owners get at least $1 million worth of Pladeo shares. So if the 2.5 million shares don't add up to $1 million (40 cents a share) in a year's time, they'll get more.

In the same filing, Pladeo also announced it had acquired a company called Capital Growth Corp. (CGC), which, "organized on February 4, 2014, was formed for the purpose of providing short- and long-term financing to assist growers and retail establishments engaged in the manufacture and distribution of recreational marijuana within the State of Colorado."

To buy CGC, Pladeo issued another 5 million shares and warrants to acquire roughly 1.5 million more. Most of the shares will go to Joel Schneider, who took over as CEO Feb.27, replacing Lisbeth Guerrero. Schneider acquired 8 million shares, or more than 77% of the shares outstanding at the time.

Schneider and two other newly-named Pladeo officers, COO Jose Ramirez and LaRon Bradford, vp and director of sales and marketing, state that all three will earn "$100,000 through December 31, 2014, $125,000 for calendar year 2015, and $150,000 for the remaining term of the Employment Agreements," plus expenses, according to the filing.